Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be Disney’s largest single-themed land expansions ever, transporting guests to Black Spire Outpost, a village on the never-before-seen planet of Batuu. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disney Parks)

Dome-topped circular buildings wrapped in scaffolding drew the eye skyward as towering spires of petrified trees made from hand-shaped rock work rise 135 feet in the air in the distance amid a flurry of construction work at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland.

“This is the establishing shot and the hero shot for Batuu and Black Spire Outpost,” said Chris Beatty, Walt Disney Imagineering executive creative director. “You really get the best view of the planet. It’s just got great layering and you can see the amazing spires in the distance.”

Beatty recently led a select group of reporters on an exclusive behind-the-scenes construction tour of the village of Black Spire Outpost, a remote spaceport on the planet Batuu at the edge of the “Star Wars” galaxy taking shape at the Anaheim theme park.

The midday tour followed a day of heavy rain, which left the complex construction site a muddy mess. The place was swarming with hundreds of construction workers. The goal: Complete the new 14-acre land in time for a summer debut at the Anaheim theme park.

The tour began near the Galaxy’s Edge entrance leading to Frontierland.

In the Droid Depot at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, guests will be able to build their own personal droids. (Courtesy of Disney Parks)

Droid Depot

In front of the Droid Depot, a build-your-own-droid workshop, animatronic droids will interact with visitors.

“There will be a lineup of droids here that are animated,” Beatty said. “It’s kind of reminiscent of the droids in ‘Episode IV’ outside the sandcrawler that were for sale. So these will look like droids that are for sale. You can come up and get your picture with them.”

Droid fans will enjoy exploring the props and animated show elements in the shop.

“This shop will be polluted with droids that are full size,” Beatty said. “The whole back wall here is filled with astromechs and BB units. There’s an Imperial droid in here. There’s a medical droid. If you’re a fan of Star Wars droids, there’s a droid from almost every one of the franchise films. It’s going to be just chock full of fun characters that you know and love.”

Around every corner another stunning “Star Wars” vignette was revealed. A menacing gunmetal grey First Order TIE fighter, never seen before in any movie, will serve as an entry marque for the First Order Cargo gift shop.

“The First order has landed near the hangar bay over here,” Beatty said. “It’ll be protected by storm troopers.”

Painting the Spires

Beatty paused in front of a towering petrified tree hand-carved out of rock work. Scaffolding surrounded one of the tall spires that define the landscape of the village. Scenic paint crews worked at the top of the scaffolding.

“I just have to stop here and point out the amazing artistry,” Beatty said. “This is one of the last spires that we’re finishing up within the land. We’re getting to see the end of the process.”

Disneyland released this photo of the Millennium Falcon and surrounding Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on its @Disneyland Instagram page, providing the first official look at what parkgoers will experience when the new land opens this summer. (Photo courtesy of Disney).

Millennium Falcon

The tour passed through one of several curved archways designed to frame “heroic reveals.” Imagineers refer to the transitions as “decompression moments.” Just beyond the arch, the Millennium Falcon came into view for the first time.

“This is the big reveal here,” Beatty said. “The tallest of the spires are in the distance that are around the Millennium Falcon experience and the entrance to our cantina is straight ahead.”

Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a local watering hole to unwind, conduct business and maybe even encounter a friend É or a foe. Patrons of the cantina come from across the galaxy to sample the famous concoctions created with exotic ingredients using “otherworldly” methods, served in unique vessels, with choices for kids and libations for adults. (Courtesy of Disney Parks)

Oga’s Cantina

The interior of Oga’s Cantina was intimate. A curved bar stood at the center of the domed space with alcoves around the edges. The stand-up bar will have no seats.

“What you’re seeing here around the outside are all these little nooks and crannies where you will be able to sit on a little bench seat,” Beatty said. “The table in front of you is up-lit to make it kind of mysterious.”

Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities

The Den of Antiquities looked like the most completed space on the tour. Plastic sheeting covered props arrayed on the upper level of the shop. One-of-a-kind collectibles from different eras of the Star Wars galaxy will be sold on the lower level.

“We just started propping the last two days in here,” Beatty said. “When this is done, it just gets completely filled out on the upper level. This is all props on the upper level. You can’t even shop the upper level. There’s even a 12-foot taxidermied Wampa that’s in here.”

Visitors will be able to barter with an audio-animatronic Dok-Ondar hammerhead creature with the help of a shop employee.

“He’s always diligent as to what’s going on within the shop, counting his money, making sure that nothing has been taken or missing in his collection,” Beatty says. “When you go to buy something, you can interact with him from time to time.”

A multi-purpose transport shuttle docked on top of a large hangar (left) will beckon guests into Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo, a designated location for traveling food shuttles inside Star Wars: Galaxys Edge. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disney Parks)

Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo

Inside Docking Bay 7, visitors will enter under a cargo pod being lowered from a tug ship docked on the roof of the restaurant. Diners will eat inside cargo containers that double as seating areas.

Each cargo container will have a different theme and props. There will be a fishmonger, a fruit vendor and an alien distillery.

“This vendor here has got a miniature carbonite freezing machine,” Beatty said. “It has special effects and steam coming out of it. It’s just stacks and stacks of weird fish and creatures that have been frozen in carbonite.”

Outpost Marketplace

Sail-like sunshades covered a colonnade of small vendor stalls inspired by marketplaces in Morocco or Istanbul. The stalls will be filled by a grain vendor, toy maker, outpost clothier and jewelry maker.

“Each one of these stalls has a different story and a different proprietor,” Beatty said. “Each one of them have amazing props, amazing little special effects and then cool merchandise to go along with it.”

Creature Stall

One marketplace stall will be stuffed with alien creatures collected from across the “Star Wars” galaxy.

Crews were adding hanging cages and props to the Creature Stall during the tour.

“When we’re done, just like those stalls that you see in Istanbul and Morocco, you won’t be able to see the ceiling in this space,” Beatty said.

Brady MacDonald is a theme park reporter for the Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group. He’s covered the theme park industry for more than 25 years. He writes about Disney, Universal, Six Flags, SeaWorld, Cedar Fair and Legoland parks in Southern California, across the United States and around the world. As a member of the SCNG Features team, he also writes about entertainment, travel, pop culture, music, restaurants and craft beer.

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